NASCAR driver Austin Dillon tests positive for COVID-19

NASCAR driver Austin Dillon has tested positive for COVID-19, Dillon’s Richard Childress Racing team announced Saturday morning. The No. 3 Chevrolet Camaro driver is quarantining and will miss Sunday’s Cup Series race at the Daytona International Speedway road course.

Richard Childress Racing did not disclose whether Dillon, 30, was symptomatic, but said that Dillon’s wife, Whitney, and newborn son, Ace, “remain healthy and symptom-free.”

RCR part-time Xfinity driver Kaz Grala, 21, will replace Dillon in the No. 3 Chevy this weekend. Grala has two top-five finishes in races at Road America over the last two seasons. His best finish in the last five oval races was 13th place at Kansas this season.

Meanwhile Dillon, who is already locked into the playoffs with a race win at Texas, must produce two negative COVID-19 tests taken at least 24 hours apart in order to return to NASCAR’s racing activities. The sanctioning body updated its event operations protocol last week to align with new CDC guidance of July 22, which recommends discontinuing testing after a 10-day isolation period if the individual is fever-free for a minimum of 24 hours without the use of medication. NASCAR said that based on advice from consulting physicians, the 10-day isolation period begins the day of the first positive test (not at the onset of symptoms).

Dillon must also have written clearance from his personal physician to resume racing activity.

“Based upon recommendations outlined by The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, NASCAR and our health partners at Wake-Forest Baptist Health, RCR has enacted procedures and safety protocols designed to minimize the risk of COVID-19 exposure and spread,” RCR said in a statement. “These guidelines were developed in close consultation with a panel of medical experts with broad experience in infectious diseases, many of whom have been on the front line in treating COVID-19 patients across the country.”

Exposed individuals are also required to stand down from competition and self isolate, and may return to racing activities after they have received one negative test. NASCAR said that confirmed exposure is based on “a totality of the circumstances as determined by NASCAR in consultation with their consulting physicians.” That analysis includes identifying individuals exposed over the last 10 days, determining the timing of exposure, the level of direct skin contact, amount of social distancing and the level of PPE use among the individuals involved in the contact.

“As we’ve said since our return, NASCAR’s health and safety plans will continue to evolve, with the goal remaining the same — a safe event for both our competitors and the communities in which we race,” NASCAR’s vice president of racing operations John Bobo said in a statement this week. “NASCAR will continue to implement and execute a comprehensive plan to ensure the health and safety of our competitors and the surrounding communities.”

Dillon is the fourth NASCAR driver to test positive for the coronavirus. Jimmie Johnson tested positive in July, forcing him to miss a race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Johnson produced two negative COVID-19 tests the next week and returned to competition for the following NASCAR event.

Part-time Cup Series driver Brendan Gaughan tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this season, as did Truck Series driver Spencer Davis. Gaughan will return to the Cup lineup this weekend at Daytona.